Hi, I started climbing a few months ago and I love it ! I'm doing it twice a week at a GYM. Because I live in Florida (flat as a pancake) I would have to travel fairly far to do the real thing so I'm wondering : should I wait until I get to a certain level indoors (say 5.11 consistently) ? Once I decide I'm ready what's the best way to go about doing it outdoors ? what resources are available to get people together ? shoul I hire sombody as a guide or can I just go to places that are suited for beginners and provide all the facilities ? what should I expect out there in the real world ?

I will help you out, as I see SOME people here are less then giving right now.

Get in with some climbers from your gym that have a few years experience. They will be best off in informing you on most of the questions you have. It's exactly what I did, and it worked out great.

Personally, what grade you climb at should have no influence on a decision to get outdoors. It should come down to wether or not you have the knowledge to stay safe (which is where going with experienced climbers comes in VERY handy). I know for a fact there are tons of easy climbs outdoors which would give you an awesome feel for what it's like, and offer a quite safe learning experience with setting top ropes or placing protection, things like that.

I live in IL, and changes in elevation are slim to none, so gym climbing is what I have to resort to. I took my first trip outdoors about 5 months after I started climbing (only because of weather).

Just get out climb. But be safe about it. Climb today so you can climb tomorrow.

One thing you have to realize is that climbing a 5.10 indoors and climbing a 5.10 outdoors are two different things. Outdoors is alot harder. You've got no planned routes, no set anchors, and no smooth holds. This is what the gym is supossed to train you for. Before the summer i had been doing solid 5.11+'s indoors. Then i attened a NOLS mountaineering course for 32 days and found that my skills didnt measure up to my indoor 5.11. My advice to you is to take a trip with other experienced climbers and sample the outdoors. In my opinion, you can't say your a climber unless you sample the real thing. You should read up on routes in parts near you and get information on simple outdoor routes ( 5.7-5.9's ) to start with. Good Luck!

as far as moving to the outdoors if your gym is set up to bring people outside then that may be the best way to go because you have gotten to know them and could feel comfortable with them. taking a trip outside the area that your gym would cover and having no outside experince then a professional guide would be the best choice. Now when choosing a guide service make sure to do a little research first dont just show up to a climbing area you want to get a guiding service that has highly qualified guide lots of experince, medical knowledge, American mountain guide cert. (AMGA). A good thing to check for is to see if they guide service is insured the insurance company go through a very indepth resaerch into quality a if a standard is not met then no insurance is given.

Once you do get outside you will love it there is nothing on the inside that can even come close to the same experince.

I do both and they're comletely different. You don't have to care about the weather inside, and you can do more routes. But it isn't as 'real' as outside and you have to pay. I don't think you must be able to do difficult routes inside before you go outside. The difficulty is the leading, not the grade.

I'm from Florida and fairly new to climbing and have gone through the same situation as you. I suggest for the first time save your money and take a intro course for climbers. Most outfitters have a course that deals with people coming from a gym or with a little experience. I found it to be very, very helpful and if you are staying in the area you can find climbing partners for the next few days. Good Luck and it is a total blast outdoors.

I also started climbing 6 months ago, I do both indoor and outdoor. I go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week working on improving my technique and once a month doing outdoor, I love the feel of the rock, it's totally different from the gym. I climb with a group of experienced climbers, they've been very helpful, even when I'm not climbing I have so much fun just by watching them climbing the difficult routes and using different techique.

Defintely try to find some people who have climbed outdoors before, outdoor is much different and requires knowledge of setting up climbs. Can't be too careful. As far as reaching a certain level, don't worry about it. There are plenty of climbs of all levels out there so it shouldn't matter.

Go climb at well bolted cliffs. Stay way under your gym level on your first few climbs. Then as you gain confidence work your way up. There is no science to it. YOu will soon find that outdoor climbing is really what all that gym climbing mimmics. I only recommend climbing inside when you have to. You might discover that there will be no tape on holds and that holds may often be hard to decipher (the right ones to use anyway). Sometimes you can follow chalk left by previous climbers too.

Outdoors is definitely were the fun starts. Indoors is great for building strength, but you really get a feel for climbing when you go outside - Also don't get stuck on numbers, climbing should be about personal enjoyment and whatever goals you place for yourself.

As a very new and novice climber (exactly one weekend of guided climbing) I can say that getting on the rock first really made me want to continue climbing. Finishing my first top-rope climb, looking around at the scenery and thinking, "Jeez, a guy could kill himself if he fell offa this thing" really hooked me.